Prayers
Of
Thanks
When we thank someone, something happens. The receiver gets the gift of thanks, but the giver is also changed by the act of thanking. How many times have I heard a parent saying to a child “What do you say?” and the kid grumpily replies “thank you” with utter umbrage. If only they knew… something a bit magical happens when we speak words of gratitude… something lovely and inexplicable.
A Weird Prayer of Thanks
Who deserves thanks?
Me?
Another?
So… Why do I give thanks?
Is it useful to give thanks?
Is there anything to be thankful for?
Maybe if I step into somebody else’s shoes
It would be easier to be thankful…
I might be luckier, richer, more gorgeous
But then… Maybe if I stepped into another’s shoes
I might discover
I was poorer,
Sicker, a sucker, sadder
Right now, why thank?
OK, if I had to
I could
But why?
Here’s one wild reason to thank
Pluck a memory
Carefully selected
From the memory bank
Pause… Enjoy that sweet recollection…
Make it lovely and lovelier
Smile and feel thankful
Or pretend
To be thankful
For being able to smile
For having laughed… once or twice
In life
For being kind, once or twice in life
For worrying
And discovering that worrying generally
Is a waste of time
A misuse of imagination
So, use your imagination
For something better, finer, lovelier
More beautiful…
And smile
I can smile
I know how to do it
I’ve done it before
I can laugh at myself smiling
Cheerfully and maybe inanely
I can appreciate I have a lousy sense of humour
I can appreciate myself
In all my glory… because
A lousy sense of humour
Can be a terrific sense of humour
I can be kind to myself
I can be kind to somebody else
And I can smile about myself
I can stroke myself, like a cat
I can be sensible
I can be silly
I can be funny
I can be wise
And amidst all this stuff and guff
I can thank myself
And whoever made me
It’s time to try-out a token ‘thank you’
Offer some gentle appreciation
To you, me and the universe…
Give yourself some gracious gratitude
Thank you